Here's a interesting tidbit from the Fall 2012 DC9 newsletter the 9 Iron News....


Statistically speaking, Maintenance Control and Line Maintenance appear to be doing a terrific job keeping the DC9 flying as we get closer and closer to the sunset of its life at Delta. I hear very few pilot complaints regarding the number of MEL items on board or issues regarding the quality of repairs. As the most profitable fleet in Delta’s livery, it is important to assure a high level of reliability in the aircraft.

Viva la DC9!!!!!!!!

 

Yup. Enjoy those sub-par pay rate increases. It only cost you a minimum of 300 jobs and 150 upgrades.

How many more "pay increases" until many of us are outsourced/surplused? I'm not sure I can stand many more "increases".

Nu

 

Going to sting for SWA.

 

At an estimated cost of $510 an airplane?

Well...unless they're all cracked.

 

Oh, I read that wrong. I looked at the total US operators cost.

 

I'm sure you can model rate increases using your methodology...someplace...right?

At DragonCon maybe?

Here in the real world we should be looking at real world results. At the time of our TA we were the second least efficient pilot group in the majors (only AMR was lower). There are plenty of sources for that info. Maybe you can talk of the outsourced/surplused pilots at those more efficient properties? Then take a look at our rates in that light.

SWAPA's amendable date was a month ago. How are their negotiations going?

Instead of looking at threats to our careers and opportunities for our advancement we have a bunch of people, including several candidates for office, focused on belly button lint. They're calling for "consensus" while advocating a position taken by the minority in the last TA. In other words there'll only be "consensus" when it's done their way. They're arguing for "consensus" and calling for political election of the MEC Chair. They're doing the same for committee chairs. Really?

How does any of that improve the pay, benefits, working conditions and job security of the Delta pilots? How many line pilots actually give a crap about these "issues?"

I don't know if anybody has announced for C81. In C20 there have only been 2 candidates announced for Capt and 1 for FO rep. In ATL there were 4 Capt candidates and 5 FO candidates for nomination. That's not exactly an outpouring of angst among councils representing over 6000 pilots. Yet I look at candidates that send out 5 letters saying there's too much to talk about, yet repeat the same thing in each letter...no meat. I see very few focusing on the issues of the majority...ya know the pay, benefits, working conditions and retirement of the pilots. I see a lot of navel gazing.

So I hope you do enjoy your rate increases. Should your point of view ever win the day, I'll hold you to the same standard that the minority currently holds those doing our work. And I sincerely hope they can prove me wrong and not be the failures that others that have tried the path they advocate have been.

 

There's no money in profitable airplanes... unless they're outsourced profitable airplanes.

 

It's especially disheartening with outsourcing 2.0. There were the thousands of RJ's during the last decade, and now the breathing of new life into larger outsourced RJ's for the next decade plus, domestic code sharing that continues to cannibalize our flying by getting around the definition of "is", and JV partners that are now able to go 3 years unchecked filling up their A380's and 777's while we maintain "capacity discipline".

I know you guys get tired of me bringing up our union strategy or lack thereof. I'm sorry but I must say we keep blowing chances to get this ship on track. The lack of long term strategy for unsenior Delta pilots is dizzying and disappointing. Don't be surprised to wake up in the same relative position 20 years from now (if you make it that long) on a list of 7000 pilots. Where are the results of all our constructive engagement, bringing more flying back to Delta? It doesn't exist.

Btw, it is likely Alaska is going to get more of our domestic flying (they already have been slowly advancing, regardless of what your paid union expectation managers say on this board). We will be sold that it is a win based upon increased feed to our international flying, international flying that will later be pulled back down. Unfortunately just like work rules, once they are given away they very rarely ever come back. Rant over.

 

Slowplay, Sailing, and Sink r8,

Someone asked a year ago and I'll ask again... please come up with some avatars. My brain likes simple and it's way too hard to keep you three straight especially since you all start with S.

And when you start arguing with each other, I wind up fast forwarding to the Underboob. Well, I'd do that anyway.

Or maybe just come up with colors, like in Reservoir Dogs. Colors are brain-simple.

Nobody has to be Mr. Pink.

 

That's because "navel gazing" is easy. Actually improving the pay and job security of pilots is much more difficult. Lots of navel gazing at APA and other carriers, just no contract improvements.

The light weights focus on lint, the real reps focus on our contract and add a billion dollars to it and increased staffing by over 1,000 pilots through the duration of our contract.

According to Delta's SEC filing, the mainline fleet will be at 796 aircraft by the end of 2015. A critical component was our TA moving jobs from DCI to the mainline. I appreciate the hard work of the real reps and committee members that are making that happen. The lint pickers, well, they'll always just stare at their navel.